Chapter 1164: Scheme (III)

“I suspect that Commander Wu still possesses his physical body,” Li Hao said. “The pressure that he brings to bear on the dao universe is similar to what came from the Sea Pacification Envoy. Under normal circumstances, a Saint lacking a physical body should not give me so much pressure. We need to act fast. Who among you three is willing to make the trip with me?”

“Me!” An exceedingly complicated look filled the old turtle’s eyes. “I’ve been awake all this time and know him the best. I’ll go.”

Li Hao nodded without protest.

“How about I go instead?” Capsize Sea offered with a cough. “The old turtle may not be able to handle him and we won’t be able to enter the dao universe after it’s sealed off. It would be quite troublesome if any problems do develop...”

“Sea Pacification Envoy, do you not trust me?” intoned the old turtle.

“It’s not that.”

“If I was untrustworthy, then Battle Heaven would have fallen into enemy hands many years ago!” The old turtle was very solemn. “Battle Heaven is quite unlike any other. I do not believe that a traitor would appear amongst us. I wish to take a look for myself. If it is true, I would like to ask why this is!”

𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Li Hao wasn’t willing to say much in their argument. “Then let Guardian Turtle come along with me,” he interrupted. “But stay out of sight if possible. I’d like to probe the commander first so we avoid misunderstandings. That would be the most awkward of all!”

The void ripped apart once more, admitting the young man and turtle.

The dao universe disappeared, leaving behind General Pagoda. The tree looked at Capsize Sea and asked softly, “Does the envoy know if Commander Li’s judgment is accurate or not? Wu Peng is the commander of the reserve defenders...”

“Anything is possible!” Capsize Sea responded faintly. “I’m more curious whether the old turtle will take advantage of the opportunity to ally with Wu Peng and seize the dao universe. I don’t know if it’s a sign that Li Hao trusts you guys too much in not bringing me with him, or if the commander has other plans in mind.

“General Pagoda, what is your view of Li Hao?” the golden cow suddenly asked.

“Me?” General Pagoda was silent for a while. “It’s hard to say. Before the battle at Boundless, Li Hao was tolerant, trusting, respectful, and to a certain degree, reliant on New Martial and Battle Heaven. But after that battle, while he doesn’t appear to have changed much, I can feel an internal shift. He views us with some suspicion and reservation now. His trust toward us has decreased by a great deal.”

If it was before, Li Hao would not have brought them into the dao universe to inspect their allegiance. This was true even when he knew that the dao universe could determine the enemy. That would make him appear to be too petty-minded.

But this time, the young man outright said that everyone needed to be screened by the dao universe. This was a demonstration of distrust. The Li Hao of today was different from the Li Hao of yesterday.

Although he looked the same and his attitude hadn’t changed much, General Pagoda could clearly sense that if the young man had doubted the tree in the slightest, the general would’ve been dead without a doubt at the time of resurrection!

Reviving a Saint!

What level of strength had Li Hao been at that time?

But today, he carried himself with a bit of wariness at every second. He was cautious and on guard. Although the young man had visited Battle Heaven by himself again, he’d done so with the assurance that only came from being equipped with a certain amount of strength.

“Is he really unable to bring four Saints into the dao universe, or is he worried that he’ll be unable to handle the rebellion of four Saints at once?” the general suddenly asked softly. “So does that mean he is able to handle two Saints at once?”

It fell silent after these words. Capsize Sea’s eyes darted around; the monster spirit remained silent as well. What was going through Li Hao’s mind?

Could he really not manage to bring everyone in with him, or was this another probing gesture? Was he confident of being able to handle both the old turtle and Commander Wu even if the old turtle turned on him?

Capsize Sea didn’t have that many reflections on the changes in Li Hao’s personality, whereas General Pagoda held more of an opinion about them. The plant spirit suspected that the young man could bring more people in, but he trusted them so little now that he refused to do so.

Was this a good thing or a bad thing?

Who could say?

If this was his attitude towards Battle Heaven, his partner of longest tenure, then he would trust the other ancient cities even less.

......

Hao Cosmos.

Thunder and lightning roared.

Thunderbolts erupted in the darkness, smiting Wu Peng again and again. The commander was growing uneasy and he bellowed, “Eleventh Division leader, when will these thunderbolts end?”

“Soon!” Li Hao’s voice echoed after a long moment. “They target you more because the commander is a powerhouse of an external dao. It would not be thus toward a cultivator of the new dao.”

The darkness brightened in front of the commander and stars came into view. Wu Peng’s eyes gleamed with enthusiasm. The cosmos of the universe! This was the manifestation of the great dao, wasn’t it?

The new dao...

Li Hao’s figure appeared and he summoned a celestial body with a wave.

“Commander, core origin powerhouses must leave their dao brands here, a mark of their core origin. That is insurance against the new dao from targeting you when you emerge in the outside world. Otherwise, the world’s punishment of you will be exceedingly ferocious!

“This is my personal dao star. Please stamp a brand onto it with your core origin power, as well as leave some of your strength behind. This thunder tribulation will not stop until you do so!”

The thunder and lightning was still continuing; Wu Peng was finding it difficult to stay on his feet. He was starting to become disheveled and scorch marks were starting to mark his armor.

“Your dao star?” The commander was surprised when he saw the celestial body.

“Indeed, it was coalesced from the great dao, just like one’s avenue of core origin dao. The cultivator’s great dao shatters when it breaks...”

“Ah, Eleventh Division leader, this...”

“It’s alright, we’re one family here. I trust everyone!” Li Hao manifested and smiled radiantly. “My shared destiny with Battle Heaven runs deep! I may not trust anyone else, but I trust the seniors at Battle Heaven! Even though the commander may not be that familiar with me because you’ve just awakened, I still view you as part of the family!

“There is no need to worry about anything. Just leave a mark of your core origin strength on here. Should I even worry that the senior will choose to shatter my dao star instead?”

“Of course not!” Wu Peng swiftly responded solemnly. “It’s just... this gesture is too risky and the Eleventh Division leader should not take such risks...”

“Doubt not the people you use and use not the people you doubt!” Li Hao laughed. “I’ve always been like this, so stop hemming and hawing, commander. I trust even a monster spirit like the Sea Pacification Envoy—I would trust my fellow humans so much more!

“Commander, we cannot stay here for too long, please make haste. The pressure that I’m enduring is building. I’m obstructing some of the thunder and lightning around us. Even bigger thunderbolts will strike us when I can no longer stop them...”

“Very... well then!” Wu Peng had no other choices available. He looked curiously at the celestial body that flickered with dense power of light. “Does the Eleventh Division leader train the attribute of light?”

“No, I train sword dao. However, sword dao is difficult to cultivate and I have yet to form a dao star with it. I can only concentrate on the attribute of light first. When I reach great perfection in sword dao, I will naturally form a dao star of sword dao.”

“I see!” Commander Wu sent out very weak tendrils of core origin power. They darted into the dao star.

“Commander Wu has just awakened, so your core origin power power is very weak,” Li Hao frowned. “It will be hard to stamp a brand onto the dao star then! Please bring out your full strength, commander. It’s fine even if you deplete your core origin power!

“I have plenty of core origin and Immortal level power for the commander to use once we recover your physical body. It will be hard for you to bring too much battle strength to bear in the outside world if you do not leave behind a brand now.”

Wu Peng didn’t understand much of the new dao or the current status of the outside world. But he knew that powerhouses were indeed unable to walk out prior to the second awakening.

“Then I will try extracting more core origin power,” he said weakly after thinking it over. “Except, with the core origin universe isolated from us, I may not have all that much.”

“It’s fine, however much you have is good!”

Wu Peng continued to input more core origin power into the dao star. Li Hao watched the man’s motions, remarking with regret the next time he stopped, “Is that it? If that’s it, that means... the commander will probably be unable to utilize the strength of a Saint in the outside world. You’ll be an Immortal at best because the brand you’re leaving behind is too faint!”

Wu Peng stared at the core origin vortex that was almost completely formed over the dao star.

“Is this... still not enough? Did the two guardians input even more?” he couldn’t help but ask.

“Even more!” Li Hao nodded. “Their core origin strength penetrated deep into the star and condensed to the point in which none of it leaked out! The commander’s core origin strength simply swirls around on the surface on the dao star. You are much weaker compared to them, but that is to be expected considering you’ve just awakened!”

This is to be expected?

Wu Peng felt that he’d already input a lot of energy into the dao star. Setting aside the old turtle, General Pagoda had also just awakened. Could the plant spirit have so much energy to call upon?

“Then... I’ll give it another try.”

“Alright.”

Wu Peng infused the dao star with more core origin; Li Hao watched off to the side. A large quantity of thunderbolts continued to converge from the surroundings.

There’s seriously a lot of them. That means there’s a lot of Red Moon power inside Wu Peng. He’s also bringing a lot of core origin to bear that’s very dense. There’s no way a recently awakened Saint would possess so much.

Core origin had made a circle around the star of light.

“This might not work...” Li Hao frowned after watching for a while. “Commander Wu, can you take off your armor?”

“What?”

“Your armor! A commander’s armor must contain a large sum of core origin power. Although the commander lacks a physical body, you can temporarily form one to use in a pinch...

“Ah, no, forget it. I have Director General Wang’s old body here. The commander can take possession of it first when you take off your armor. I’ll place it inside the dao star and baptize it with the power of great dao. That should extract some core origin power from it. In this way, we’ll be able to eliminate the backlash that the new dao will bring to bear against the commander.”

“Ah...” Wu Peng didn’t really want to take this course of action. “How about we forget that, Eleventh Division leader...”

“Absolutely not!” Li Hao immediately refused. “If we’re going to take action, then we must make an attempt to the best of our abilities!”

He threw out a body—the one that Director General Wang had used previously.

“This body is a bit weaker, but the commander can use it for now. Once you take off your armor, I’ll put it inside the dao star and temper it for a while...”

Wu Peng continued to hesitate.

“Don’t worry, commander,” Li Hao repeated. “The armor will only be more suited for the outside world once it’s been baptized. With how the world’s changed these days, current armor is not suited to go outside!”

“Very well then... I’m just worried that this will have a detrimental effect on you,” Wu Peng said weakly.

“It won’t. Even if it does, it won’t have that much of an effect.”

“Very well...”